Rukapyon, a Bouncy Conclusion
by ethereal collision
Summary: A sad spirit accidentally ends up falling on the wrong company...or did he? The usually strange and indifferent came up becoming the comfort of an unusually saddened blackmail target. Will he smile again? Rukaru.
1. A chance confession

Gakuen Alice ficcie here!

Ever wonder why Mikan called Ruka's name with a 'pyon'? I sure am curious! That's why I came up with the elucidation! Mikan explains how she ended up calling our lovely animal boy 'bounce'! Enjoy everyone!

Disclaimer: I don't own Gakuen Alice, Tachibana Higuchi does.

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**Ruka-pyon, a Bouncy Conclusion**

"That's all for the day, I'm off now!" Narumi stated as he speedily left Class B.

"You're leaving me with these kids again! No…!" The substitute teacher exclaimed in agony.

"Shut up!"

"Get out of here creepo!"

Random students yelled loitering around and throwing unnecessary things at the poor man.

_Gakuen Alice…_

_Middle School Class B_

Probably the most pleasant classroom in all of the Academy…the place is complimentary, (or somewhere light years away from being approved) it is also consisted of highly qualified and gracious students; respectful, responsible and talented…well, some of them at least.

One student though, being a part of the chaotic setting wasn't exactly minding any of it until she was bothered from her negligence to havoc…rather, she stared frozen into space as if sleeping with eyes open for some reason.

"Mikan…"

It wasn't normally like that for the likes of her, most of the time she is seen in the middle of trouble.

"Mikan…"

The second call still didn't budge her atypical state.

"Mikan!"

A dreadful 'bonk' sound came ringing the whole room awake, including the subject of disposition.

"…Hotaru! What was tha—

"How long would you keep staring at nothing?" Imai Hotaru, an expert when it comes to gadgets. Her Alice; _invention_. She's wearing some kind of a horseshoe thingy that was freshly used to hit someone.

"Why do you always use that on me?" Sakura Mikan, nothing much about her, just that her Alice is rare but weird than anything cool; nullification. Two horseshoe marks seemingly appeared on her head.

"Because you're stupid." Hotaru plainly answered.

"Well excuse me for being stupid…" Mikan pouting-ly murmured while holding her head.

"Don't misunderstand me; I'm doing this for you to realize your mistakes. You should be thankful." Hotaru explained coldly.

"I know…" Mikan said smiling at her.

Hotaru's uncaring look appeared steady. "Well now that I got your attention, I would like to inform you that everyone left to go elsewhere."

Mikan looked around; there wasn't anyone in the room except Hotaru and herself. "Wow…"

"You're usually the one out before anyone else."

"You think so?"

"Don't tell me that baka brain of yours can't even make you realize that…"

Mikan didn't answer back, she returned to her current habit of staring into nothing. That surely made Hotaru a bit skeptical.

"I'm going to stay here for a while Hotaru…If you want, you can go on ahead."

"Fine then. See you around."

"Yeah…"

Hotaru then left the room leaving Mikan inside.

"Baka…what is wrong with her now…?" She asked herself as she headed for her lab.

On the way, she had an encounter with a classmate; Nogi Ruka. Apparently, the boy left something in the classroom and wanted to get it. Hotaru mentioned (and taunted) him that a person he really liked was there hanging around. But then soon explained that she noticed something wrong about the girl, she indirectly asked Ruka to provide a helping hand to her ostensibly distressed friend.

Understanding the message, Ruka had all the reason to go back to the classroom. To help Mikan.

………

"Hmm…" Was all a blank looking Mikan could say after having solitude for a little while.

Kind of absurd but she's not quite herself today, she always looked spaced out, you have to hit her before she notices anything and she always kept a constant sigh almost every five minutes. Unquestionably, something _is _bothering her.

"Shitsurei shimasu…" (1)

"R-Ruka-pyon!"

"Sorry, I'm just here to get something…"

"Souya…" (2)

For a while, there was a relatively uncomfortable silence before someone decided to speak up.

"…Nee, Ruka-pyon…can I tell you something?"

Ruka looked up from his desk to look at the brunette sitting steadily on her designated table, somewhat surprised.

"…s-s…sure…" He answered before anything happened.

"Can you sit with me?" Mikan asked, this time facing the speechless blonde boy.

"Uh…well…I…uh…" Ruka stuttered reddish-ly.

"Please?"

By looking at Mikan's serious expression, he snapped out of his heating reverie and finally gave in to her request. He moved towards the place where Mikan sat and settled himself little ways away from her.

"It looks like you didn't want sit with me after a—

"N-no! That's not it! It's…uh…"

Momentary silenced overwhelmed the place for a while.

"Can you move closer then?"

"…alright…"

Mikan smiled and rested her head on Ruka's shoulder once he got closer. This, as expected, made him react quite abnormally. He tried his best for Mikan not to notice his sudden blushing. But that aside, he actually felt happy being close to her.

"You know what Ruka-pyon…"

He stayed silent.

"I think I…"

He somewhat became a little anxious about the whole thing.

"…like Natsume…"

"Oh." Normally, a person would be _happy_ to hear a news like that. But in Ruka's case, he loved Mikan…and it just didn't sound like music or anything pleasant in his ears.

"But I'm still thinking about it, I'm not really sure if—well, sometimes he can be utterly annoying…but it makes me happy, him being like that…so I can't really tell if it's like or hate…Mou! I don't know!!!"

_So it was really him after all… I shouldn't have expected too much._ "Do you feel a kind of feeling that made you confuse or something…? Because of him…?"

"Hm? …Sort of…"

"Do you feel like heating up even though you only think of him?"

Mikan blushed. "H-hai…"

"…do you…feel something like Natsume…being a part of you…?"

Mikan nodded timidly.

"You think of him…often…?"

"Yes…"

"Sometimes…just thinking about it makes you full enough not to eat anything…?"

"Yeah…wait!" Mikan stood (sit) properly and faced Ruka.

"…what…?" Ruka asked avoiding eye contact.

"How'd you know? Your alice?"

Ruka had his eyes covered with bangs; a sad smile is seen plastered on his face.

"Yeah…something like that…"

"Wah! Sugoii!" (3)

"Setting that aside, if that's what you feel…then…you must really like him…"

"…I…do…?" Mikan looked surprisingly withdrawn.

Ruka smiled reassuringly. "Yeah…"

"Do you think…I should tell him…?"

"…why not…I mean…from the way I see it…he likes you too…"

"Honma!?" (4)

"Yeah…"

Mikan unexpectedly became teary eyed.

Ruka responded slightly fast after seeing it. "S-Sakura! What's wrong?"

"Ruka-pyon…you can't tell how happy I am right now!" Mikan clarified giving him a hug.

"Ah…yeah…I'm happy for you too…" Ruka replied trying his best to control his feelings. He wanted to just run out and leave her there, but doing so will just complicate everything…thus, instead of doing anything pointless, he just hugged her back, tightly, but loose enough for her to breathe.

"Arigatou…Ruka-pyon…" Mikan whispered.

To avoid his almost crying eyes from showing itself, he decided to just let go of the hug and try to change the subject.

"Sakura…there's something I've been meaning to ask you…"

"Nani, nani?" (5)

"Why call me Ruka-'_pyon_'?"

"I know you're well aware that 'pyon' means **bounce**, ne?"

"Uh…yeah…" _It's a bouncing sound…_

"At first, I decided to call you that because of your attachment to animals…particularly, the usagi (6) you always have with you…" Mikan enlightened.

Ruka guessed carefully what's she's going to say next.

"But then…now that I know you better, I realized that 'pyon' isn't about your rabbit…it's about how you always bounce at a chance to help me…"

But his guess was wrong.

"Help me…in bad times, in crazy emergencies…well, even with my love dilemmas…you were always there, there to bounce up and make me smile…"

Having able to hear it made him feel honored and content. It's as if those words were the only thing he needed to hear before he decided to just like her from afar. It was after all, _the _only choice as of now. To him, as long Mikan is happy, he couldn't be happier…that was all he ever wanted for her to start with.

_Be happy…_

_Always…_

"Thank you…"

"Huh?"

"Thank you, Sakura."

"…eh…?"

"Thanks a lot."

"Wakaranai yo, Ruka-pyon." (7)

Ruka just placed a hand on her head and smiled at her. "…you. Too much maybe…but…I…everything…you happy…so smile…"

'_What?_' Mikan thought. She wasn't quite sure, but to her it looked like Ruka was saying something. To a certain extent, the words didn't really register in her mind at all.

"Okay?" Ruka said looking oddly red in color.

"Huh?"

'_It worked.'_ Ruka thought to himself, secretly relieved.

"What happened, Ruka-pyon?"

"Uh…I gotta go…"

"Why?"

"I'll have to remind Natsume that he left something here…stay for the meantime, alright?" Ruka declared winking at her.

Mikan smiled and nodded happily.

Once he left the room, Natsume happened to pass by.

"Where've you gone to, Ruka? Been looking for you."

"You forgot your manga (8) inside, Natsume." Ruka said pointing to their classroom.

"Oh. Thanks." Natsume muttered before entering.

"…ganbatte ne…Sakura…" (9) Ruka mumbled.

He came to a decision to leave the place to give his friends some private space for a while. Ending up in the most unlikely place to hang out in, Ruka thought it was best that he was there; Northern Forest.

"I'm happy, and I should be. I won't be able to bounce up to help her if I stayed like this…"

Now that everything was clear, water came cascading down from his eyes. He wanted to stop it, but his eyes won't let him, it's like crying was a necessity for him to forget…and maybe, smile again. At that instant, he laughed bluntly.

"Lame…crying is for girls…"

In not so many words, Ruka knew that somehow, even though Mikan didn't feel the same about him in any way but friendship, he felt fulfilled that he got to meet her and be the one to spring up and about when she was in trouble. The 'pyon' he used to dislike as some kind of a pet name just startlingly became the most cherished treasure Mikan ever gave to him.

"And for that, I want Mikan to be happy…I'll stay being Ruka-_pyon_ so I can jump at any opportunity to help her out. Zettai daze." (10)

**Owari**

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Ah yeah, Japanese words…here:

Shitsurei shimasu – Excuse me

Souya – I see

Sugoii – great, amazing

Honma – really

Nani - what

Usagi – rabbit

Wakaranai yo – I don't understand

Manga – Japanese comic book

Ganbatte ne – Good luck

Zettai daze – No matter what


	2. Here comes Imai

Okay, I kind've gave in, although I said that Ruka-pyon a Bouncy Conclusion's already an **Owari **(which means end) and as said in the story's status 'complete'…I oddly had the urge to continue it…and, some of the reviews kinda helped me out to be decisive in continuing.

**Janine 07** – I really liked your fic _Song_! I was in a critical condition but reading it helped me throughout this one…and yes! I've decided to make it Rukaru, yay!

Disclaimer: As said before, I don't own Gakuen Alice.

…Oh yeah, (this is the last…promise!) I haven't really pinpointed what their ages are, ne? So…since their in Middle School already, they're fourteen… (Mikan, Hotaru, Ruka, Natsume) and Iinchou's fifteen…Permy too. Kokoroyomi-kun, Nonoko and Anna are thirteen by that time…well that's about everyone; I'm not sure if I'll have them appear here but just to keep you informed! Enjoy!

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_Laughter is the best medicine…or is it…?_

"Hahahaha…do I sound convincing? Hahaha…" Nogi Ruka said trying his best to laugh in a way Kokoroyomi-kun laughed in any situation.

His infamous Usagi looked at him with a _freaked out_ expression, his master isn't acting normal today. (well, it's not like Ruka acts normal when he's with his furry friends…but, oh well…)

As the blonde boy kept up with his laughing charade, a girl with shoulder-length black hair can be seen sitting on a tree with a camera that flashes almost every second. This mysterious girl had a look of mischief in her cold, but brilliant amethyst orbs, yet her smile clearly expresses a hint of pity and admiration.

"…I better stop; it's just upsetting us both…" Ruka said returning to his usual self, he stroked the soft fur of his animal friend and smiled sadly.

The wind blew almost as soon as the boy decided to stay silent. Passing by, it gently made some of his kind of messed up hair stand up, his bangs fell in accord to cover his eyes. The girl eying him couldn't help but capture that rare…and tranquil moment. And before realizing, it struck her that she carelessly lost grip of the handy cam, making it fall into the bushes.

"Darn it…" She muttered mutely. (is that even possible?)

Being an unusually smart individual, she had been ready for any possibility of getting caught by her recent (not really, it's been four years) blackmail victim. She pulled out another one of her inventions; _Hatsume # 001.1, _the crab-like grabbing device that can reach an object her hand can't easily reach. She slickly used it to regain her fallen camera.

Turning out to be a success, she held on to the camera as if her life depended on it, and once again, she returned her eyes on her subject. But it appears that he wasn't anywhere to be seen anymore. She scanned around to see if he hadn't left the forest but unfortunately, it seemed that he already go—

"Nani yo surunda, Imai?" (1)

'Imai' had chills up her spine. From the look of things, our very own blackmailer has been caught off-guard by our not-so-poor victim. Ruka had been sitting next to her since she got hold of her camera.

"Nothing that interests you." She retorted regaining her slightly lost composure.

"Looks that way." He said glaring at the camera she had.

"Surprising that you don't look frustrated."

"I had more frustrating encounters."

"Oh?"

"…Don't…pretend you don't know…"

The atmosphere became a bit awkward after that.

"…I didn't see it coming…"

Ruka looked up after hearing that. "Dooyu imi da?" (2)

"I thought she was fussing over rubbish…after all, exams are coming soon…"

"Huh…"

"My bad, I didn't notice it sooner…I wouldn't have asked you to talk to her."

"…are you okay?"

"What are you talking about…"

"N…nothing…"

It's not that it's strange or anything…but for Ruka, words like that coming from Imai Hotaru made it sound so…weird. After all, she was a kind of person that doesn't give a care. Ruka had these thoughts as he listened intently to her point of view.

"…it doesn't mean to laugh over nothing and act all weird with your poor rabbit."

"I had to cheer myself up, it wouldn't do any good if I stayed sad…"

"True…demo if you want to relieve yourself off your misery you can always kill yourself. It doesn't need so much of an effort and you wouldn't have to laugh so annoyingly fake."

Ruka had a sweatdrop at that point. "Thanks for the advice, Imai." He stated sarcastically.

"On second thought, our little innocent tangerine might get upset if you end up dying. And think about the school, they would have to pay for the coffin, the burial and the priest…it would cause a fortune."

"Is that a joke?"

"Now why would I joke about death, Ruka-kun?" She asked bluntly.

"I find it funny." Ruka said smiling at her.

"Good."

One branch could only stand so much, but due to constant weight it ends up breaking…especially if that branch wasn't meant to hold human mass. Just like the branch Ruka and Hotaru was sitting on, it was on the verge of breaking down but they still breathe oblivious to it.

"I'm…glad we had this talk, Imai." Ruka mustered up.

"It was a displeasure." She coldly answered.

"I kind of saw that coming…"

"Then you could've said something more…non-mushy."

"I meant every word."

She looked away in embarrassment. "Whatever…"

Ruka just looked at her and smiled, it was the only thing he appreciated all day. And Imai being the one who did it, made him think that she wasn't just a bully who exposes embarrassing pictures. But just as he was about to feel better, the tree branch couldn't stand two people's weight any longer. Abrupt as it is, the branch gave in to the credence and…

_Snapped._

When one realized that they were on the brink of landing on their butts, he held onto her for shield. (bwahahaha) But seeing that lady-luck always left him for tea parties when he was _in_ trouble, he resulted to be the one securing her from landing on hers' and him having the pain all to himself.

Shocking as it may seem, but after that very accident, the girl renowned to be cold but calm under pressure, rarely smiles and never laughed, emotionless enough not to feel anything suddenly…giggled…like a normal teenage school girl.

"…ow…what're you laughing for…huh…?"

Ruka had his eyes wide, with mixed shock and bafflement. Seeing Imai Hotaru laugh was such a strange but treasure-able sight. And as if on cue, he chuckled with her…both looking happy. Understanding it makes you think that they were children that got what they really wanted…

_Guess what…it really is…_

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Ah before I go, Japanese words:

Nani yo surunda – What are you doing

Dooyu imi da – What do you mean


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